Monday, December 14, 2015

A “John Doe” is an investigatory tool similar to grand juries, which allows prosecutors to silence their targets ostensibly for their own “protection.” The reality is quite different. Some of Chisholm’s worst abuses are by now well-known: A man spends hours in jail, his orange-jumpsuit-adorned mugshot blasted across local television for no official reason. Pre-dawn paramilitary raids force an unclothed woman to run toward her door lest armed apparatchiks batter it down. A 16-year-old boy home alone told he can’t call his parents or school as government agents rummage through his house. Millions of documents seized, hard drives and cell phones confiscated, gag orders imposed; astronomical legal fees. And all based on a legal theory the Wisconsin Supreme Court declared in July completely invalid.